Marisqueria las Chalanas, Asturian Cider and Seafood in Plaza España
Despite its absence of an ocean, delicious and affordable seafood can be found in Madrid for those who seek it. My friend Jacqui brought the existence of Marisquería las Chalanas to my attention, praising it for its attentive staff and the quality of the portions. With my interest piqued, Jacqui brought myself and our companion Nanor to this location on a Saturday night in order to nibble on sea critters and drink Asturian cider.
We arrived early and perched ourselves at a table in the bar area and later received lingering glances from standing patrons keen to usurp it from us. For this reason it’s pivotal to arrive before the crowd; deshelling shrimp and crabs without an adequate surface to rest the plate is an uphill battle.
The bar area offers specials where generous raciones of seafood cost 5€ with 6 glasses of cider included. We ordered two of these, the first being 1/4 kilo of cold shrimp and the second being a dignified king crab, to share between the three of us.
Our alert server kept our cider glasses full and was empathetic to Jacqui’s needs as a celiac; he was proactive and double-checked with the chef that none of our plates were exposed to gluten. In addition to these portions we also ordered garlic prawns and Mussels a la marinara off of the restaurant menu.
By the end of our meal we were indulgently full and content, all of the food pictured here cost 34€ in total. As we adjusted our coats and scarves to leave, the vultures pounced to claim our little table as their own. I recommend this establishment for celebratory occasions, parent visits or for private rendezvous for those entangled illicit trysts because the likelihood of crossing paths with anyone you know here is low.